I'm surprised that no one has touched on the topic of childbearing... I have found that having a baby has tremendously impacted where my mind is. There is the emptying of the void feeling and all. I don't know if I will ever be the same in terms of hara after that experience. I made tremendous progress.

In general, I 100% agree with Rachel and others. And I also don't think that where we tie our belts really has anything to do with feeling center. I can't really even imagine it.

I've always been under the impession based on my observations that men have to break through reliance on their shoulder strength to get anywhere in MA. This makes their movement akward in the beginning in a different way than women are. We tend to store our traumas and fears in the hips, which can be tight for a while. I think these factors influence movement and perception of center for a long time in early training...